This is a printer friendly version of an article from www.news-sentinel.com
To print this article open the file menu and choose Print.
Back
Article published Apr 15, 2009 Beyond providing jobs, ballpark's urban location creates promotional opportunities
It's too soon to judge whether the city succeeded in betting on the TinCaps as a catalyst that would revive downtown. An already deep recession that is getting deeper is a terrible time to recruit business development anywhere. But at the very least, Parkview Field brings the sizable business of the TinCaps themselves downtown and adds an important new attraction.
“It's good for downtown Fort Wayne and all of Fort Wayne to have 200,000, 250,000 or 300,000 people coming downtown,” said Dan O'Connell, president and CEO of the Fort Wayne/Allen County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
There's much more to the TinCaps than 25 players and four coaches.
Michael Limmer, the team's vice president of marketing and promotions, said there are 27 full-time employees and more than 250 part-time workers in the organization. The team doesn't release figures on revenue or profits, but Limmer said the new location will create many new opportunities.
“Some of this is location - being in the heart of the city with the skyline view and convenient to folks from the south side as well as the north side will help, and being within a short walk of where so many people work will help,” he said.
“More of this is the quality of the facility. We are going from what was rated the 11th- or 12th-best facility in the 14-team Midwest League to what we believe is undoubtedly the best. In this new ballpark we will get fans closer to the action; we will be able to offer much higher-quality food, a greater variety and reduced wait times. We will offer something for everyone - from $5 tickets (our least expensive tickets at the old ballpark were $6.50, 30 percent higher), to table-top seating, to all-you-can-eat seating options to padded seats to true luxury suites.”
The business of minor-league baseball in Fort Wayne has already grown as part of the move downtown.
The TinCaps hired a larger part-time work force. And plans for other activities - such as corporate outings and concerts - are likely to keep those part-timers working more at Parkview Field than they did at Memorial Stadium.
Beyond the baseball that will be played at Parkview Field, the business of getting baseball downtown has employed hundreds of construction workers for more than a year since the work began.
Greg Leatherman, the city's director of redevelopment, estimated that during work on the stadium, parking deck and parking garage, 500 workers have had a hand in the job. An average of 150-180 have been at work there on a given day, he said. He said those are rough estimates, but they provide a sense of the scale involved in the project.
Predicting the future of downtown with Parkview Field in the mix is chancy in today's economic climate. But O'Connell is optimistic about the prospects for visitors contributing to the economy. He said the convention and visitors bureau is already planning ads touting the TinCaps, a Fort Wayne Children's Zoo expansion, the new ice arena and other features as part of a “More to Do for Less” in Fort Wayne campaign.
The TinCaps will “draw from up to 100 miles away,” O'Connell said. “That fits our marketing plan like a glove.”